COF CIR Chat Session: Targeted AAV Gene Therapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Anti-EGFR Monoclonal Antibody-Conjugated Exosomes [Alyssa Fairgrieve]

Title: Targeted AAV Gene Therapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Anti-EGFR Monoclonal Antibody-Conjugated Exosomes

Alyssa Fairgrieve is a fourth year Choose Ohio First (COF) Innovators for a New STEMM Workforce (INSW) scholar majoring in Biochemistry at The Ohio State University. Her interest lies in utilizing immunology and biomolecular engineering for disease treatment. In August of 2023, Alyssa joined the Liu Group for Biopharmaceutical Research and Biomanufacturing in the William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, where she has done on her undergraduate research thesis under Dr. Margaret X. Liu. The Liu Group develops targeted anti-cancer therapies, specifically antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and gene therapies. This technology is developed for a variety of cancers in the lab; Alyssa’s specific focus is triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs). 

She presented this work at AIChE's 2024 National Conference in San Diego, and will finish her thesis this semester. The Liu Group is Alyssa’s second research experience, as she holds two years of prior experience in Lilly Lab at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Columbus, OH), where she studied communication between smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells in the cardiovascular system, and the role of this communication in Alagille Syndrome and diabetes.  From these experiences, Alyssa has gained a variety of lab skills. Her current project is a culmination of her time spent learning and working in the lab and her desire to make worthwhile contributions to biomedicine.